Archives for July 2016

SOmeone ap[parently tried to set a fire inside the Sedgwick County Jail. Sheriff Jeff Easter says a small fire broke out just after midnight Thursday inside one of the cells. Deputies ran in with fire extinguishers to put out the flames. Medical staff checked everyone around the area for smoke inhalation, but nobody was seriously hurt. The inmate who started the fire is expected to be charged with arson.

A shooting scene outside a West Wichita Dillons grocery store on Thursday. It happened just before 5:30 at the Dillons at 13th and West Street. The victim says he doesn’t know the man who shot him in the rear end. Police say witnesses reported seeing the gunman run toward the nearby credit union. The victim was not seriously hurt.

Storms packed a big punch last night, as several reports of wind as high as 80 miles per hour was reported. Westar Energy reported more than 4400 power outages at the height of the storm. Power was also knocked out to the entire town of Haven in Reno County.

We begin in Sumner County this morning, where one person died and two others were seriously hurt in a crash. It happened when two cars reportedly collided head on between Wellington and Oxford on US 160. The crash happened yesterday afternoon. A passenger in one of the SUV’s was pronounced dead at the scene, but the victim’s name has not yet been released.

A deadly fire overnight in Wichita. Lots of fire trucks around the Buttwood Tree complex in the 9200 block of East Harry, near Webb Road. A battalion chief at the scene confirms one person has died. There are no other reports of injuries.

S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Kansas’ credit rating because of the state’s ongoing budget problems. The rating agency said Tuesday it has dropped its rating for Kansas to AA-, from “AA.” State Budget Director Shawn Sullivan says the S&P report cites a continued underfunding of the state’s pension system. Illinois, New Jersey and Kentucky are now the only states with worse ratings than Kansas.

A push from Bernie Sanders for unity behind Hillary Clinton is pulling his Kansas supporters into the Democratic presidential nominee’s camp, though not all of them fully. The state’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia cast only 14 of its 37 votes Tuesday for Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state, and her total included four party-leader superdelegates.

The man taken into custody after a woman’s death Sunday night has reportedly confessed to stabbing her. The domestic fight broke out just after 9pm Sunday in the 1100 block of South Martinson. The 64 year-old woman was found dead in a bedroom of the house. The man was found sitting on the sidewalk, suffering from injuries of his own. Police say the couple had no history of domestic violence in the past, that they know of.

Authorities in Oklahoma have identified a woman involved in a fatal parachuting accident as 26-year-old Sheralynn Neff of Newton, Kansas. Neff’s body was found Monday morning in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. News 9 in Oklahoma City reports she was participating in a program and had jumped six times near Cushing, Oklahoma on Sunday. After her final jump Sunday, her parachute was found in a tree, but she was no where to be found.

Wichita Police have issued an alert for a missing elderly man. 76 year-old Henry Orville Bennett was last seen in the 2100 block of North Woodlawn at about 8pm Monday evening. He reportedly suffers from dementia and other medical issues. Bennett is described as a black male, 76 years-old, 5-feet 10 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He has gray hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue t-shirt. If you know anything, call 911.